They're Never Far Away
by c95
Summary: Five years have passed since Order 66 and the fall of the Republic. Aayla Secura and Commander Bly have moved to a small, outpost world in the Unknown Regions in a bid to escape the Empire. So far, they have been able to live their lives undisturbed but their illusion of peace is soon shattered by the arrival of a new enemy that threatens not just their world but the entire region.
1. Dreams And Nightmares

It was that time of day again when gloom descended on the forests of the world Cerenas and the nighttime mists began to coalesce. Aayla Secura, Captain in the _Cerenas Defence Force_ or CDF was making her solitary way home, following a narrow and winding forest path towards the abandoned hunting lodge where she and Bly lived. The fading daylight tinged the mist a pale blue colour and trees were little more than black lines, cutting through the murk close up whilst fading into grey the further she looked into the distance. Aayla could hear precious little other than the sound of leaves crunching under her feet. So quiet was it that one might hear a stick snapping for a mile around. That wasn't to say that the forest was empty, just that the creatures that lived within it did not generally advertise their presence.

Cerenas was a sparsely populated forest world, visited mainly by freighter pilots on long hyperspace journeys, if it was visited at all. It boasted just two population centres of any note: Cerenas City (the capital) and Arlaast (a smaller outpost town where she and Bly worked). Most of the inhabitants were human – Cerenas had no sentient alien race of its own. It was isolated, but that wasn't such a bad thing as far as Aayla and Bly were concerned. They could live here in peace and quiet, undisturbed by the many threats that lurked in this particular corner of the galaxy – not to mention the Galactic Empire.

Almost five years had passed since then Chancellor Palpatine had made himself Emperor of the galaxy and had the Jedi murdered by their own clone commanders. It was just good fortune that Bly, the clone commander serving under Aayla, had refused to execute her. She still didn't know what had made Bly different from the many thousands of clones who followed Palpatine's orders to the letter but it had formed an unbreakable bond between them. When she had decided to flee to the Unknown Regions, an uncharted region of space beyond the borders of the Empire, he had opted to come with her.

Building a new life from scratch had not been easy. The Unknown Regions, whilst uncharted, were far from empty. Many of the larger, more populous worlds harboured Imperialistic ambitions of their own and were engaged in endless wars with their neighbours. Other technically habitable worlds were left uncolonised purely because the non-sentient creatures that inhabited them were so dangerous. Aayla and Bly had hopped from world to world in their stolen Imperial shuttle for more than a year before finally settling on Cerenas.

After twenty minutes walking, Aayla could at last see her house emerge from the mist. _Her house._ Home ownership was an odd concept for a Jedi, one that she had still not quite gotten used to she had to admit, though she knew it was normal for most people that lived in the galaxy. But Jedi were forbidden from having attachments and property and thus did not own their own homes. The experience was new for Bly as well. As a clone soldier, the Republic military was all he had ever known and he had spent his entire life either in Republic bases or on the battlefield. The Republic never permitted its clones to leave the military and live a civilian life and Aayla doubted the Empire had changed the policy.

She was close enough to her house to be able to see it clearly now. It was a simple structure, single story, constructed entirely out of wood. It was derelict when Aayla and Bly found it and they had spent their first summer on Cerenas repairing and refurbishing it. It wasn't comfortable; it lacked all the basic amenities, even running water. But this didn't bother her too much. A Jedi didn't need to live in comfort. Bly too was used to basic living conditions from his years of war. The most important thing was, the house provided a roof over their heads and it was watertight.

Aayla could see no lights shining through the mist. The window was dark and empty. That meant Bly was still on shift. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. Not a keycard, a physical key for an old-fashioned mechanical lock. It wasn't good security but it was the best they could do. Their house wasn't connected to the Arlaast power grid and never would be. It was too far from the town for a connection and having a new power line laid would cost more than a house in Arlaast itself. So they relied on battery power for the few devices they had and this had to be conserved. They couldn't run an electronic security system every hour of the day.

She let herself in, locking the door behind her. The house was cold, the interior pitch black, save for a trickle of light though the window which was shrouded in mist. Automatically, Aayla made her way towards the back of the house and turned on the power supply. Then she went to the main room and the kitchen, switching on the lamps in turn. Instantly, Aayla felt better as a warm, orange light dispelled the darkness in the lodge. She noticed that Bly had left her a note on the kitchen table. It read: _Aayla, They've got me on village patrol - as far out as Mar-Syrr. Won't be back til 01:30 at least so don't stay up! See you tomorrow morning. Love you, Bly._

She smiled at his last; he was straightforward and to-the-point as always. But she couldn't suppress a sinking feeling in her heart. She hated these long, lonely nights in the forest. She was certain he did as well when he was stuck here alone. Aayla and Bly both worked for the rather grandly named Cerenas Defence Force which in reality was far more versed in local policing than planetary defence. When officers were sent on _village patrol_ they had to tour the many small villages that surrounded Cerenas City and Arlaast, march up and down their high streets, reassure locals and generally just be as visible as possible. It didn't achieve much, other than keeping those who lived in these isolated communities happy.

Aayla set the note down on the table and then headed over to the window to close the curtains. She changed out of her uniform and into her nightclothes, hanging the uniform over the back of a chair in the bedroom. She hoped it would dry out by the morning. She suspected it wouldn't. The nighttime mists made for a damp environment, rather too damp for Aayla's liking. Not for the first time, she questioned the wisdom of their decision to live in the forest. It always came back to the same argument. They had no assets besides their Imperial shuttle. If they sold the shuttle they could afford a house in Arlaast. But then they would not have a sure way off this planet if they needed to leave in a hurry. They both agreed it was better to hang on to the shuttle and put up with the forest for a few years.

One day they would leave though. Not just the forest but this world. They were still young, they could put their talents to better use than policing an outpost town on a forgotten outpost world in the Unknown Regions. Aayla yearned to find out what had happened to the other Jedi. Most would have perished, she knew. But she felt sure there were at least a handful of other survivors. Sometimes she imagined she could feel the presences of other Jedi across the stars, distant echoing ripples in the force. More than likely an illusion she told herself, each time these feelings occurred. Sensing presences across vast distances was hard and fraught with error, even for the most powerful Jedi.

It didn't stop her dreaming though. She often imagined herself founding a new Jedi Order on a new world – not Coruscant – training the next generation in the ways of the force. Then she would remember that there wasn't a next generation. She would remember why the Jedi Order was no more. She struggled with these dreams and tried to suppress them when they occurred because they always led back to the Emperor. There could be no future for the Jedi whilst the Sith ruled the galaxy.

If founding a new Jedi Order was a recurring dream, the Empire discovering her and Bly here was a recurring nightmare. It always took the same form. She would find herself being shaken awake by Bly. _Come on, come on, we've got to go Aayla!_ He would say. _They're here! The Empire!_ She would run out of the house and there, hanging lazily in the sky, would be the familiar wedge shape of a Star Destroyer. It would fire its turbolaser once and the bolt, bright green, would streak across the sky, heading straight towards them like lightning. In her dream, the bolt would detonate right next to her and knock her off her feet. Then they would be running, she and Bly, towards the hiding place for their Imperial shuttle. But of course, a man in grey uniform would be there already, waiting for them. He would be surrounded by Stormtroopers, all of them pointing their rifles straight at her head.

This was normally the point where she would wake up, weak and shaking. Bly would sooth her, he would tell her it was just a dream. And it was just a dream. But it was a dream that might come true. The Unknown Regions were hard to enter due to hyperspace anomalies but not impossible. Seasoned smugglers did it all the time. If they could do it and she could do it then the Empire could do it as well. It was really just a matter of time before the Empire arrived here. Then she and Bly would have a choice. Would they run away once again, search for the last bits of the galaxy outside Imperial control, or would they stand and fight?

It wasn't a worry she could share with anyone besides Bly. Knowledge of the galaxy beyond the Unknown Regions, _the other side_ as those who lived in these parts called it, was limited. No matter how many times Aayla told her work colleagues that the Republic had fallen, they never seemed able to accept it. They probably never would. The galaxy beyond just wasn't very interesting to them and their views on it were fixed. That was something she had to accept.

As she was musing, her eye fell on the note on the kitchen table again. Bly was right of course. She shouldn't stay up. It was late. She needed sleep. But first, she needed to eat. It was too late for her to cook. Ordinarily she liked to cook, but not after late shifts. Fortunately, they still had a few ration packs left in storage. They weren't nice tasting but then they weren't intended to be. They were fast to prepare, long lasting and nutritious. She picked one out, noting with a pang that it was Imperial Army issue. The smugglers that bridged the divide between the Unknown Regions and the known galaxy did a roaring trade in stolen ration packs; Aayla had been buying them ever since settling on this world and it hadn't escaped her notice that Republic branded packs were becoming an increasingly rare sight. It was a small reminder, as if she needed one, of how much things had changed.

She finished her meal and then turned out the lights, leaving the power on only for a small electric heater in the bedroom; the nights on Cerenas were cold. Finally, she set her blaster pistol on the bedside table, loaded, safety catch off. That was always the last thing she did every night. What would Master Yoda have thought about that? He wouldn't have approved, she knew. But these were different times. The galaxy was a harsher place than it used to be and she had become a good deal more anxious since the fall of the Republic. The loaded blaster was reassuring. Even though it shouldn't be. She lay flat on her back under the covers and stared up at the ceiling she couldn't quite see because it was so dark. At some point, she fell asleep.

– Notes:

Sorry about the delay folks, it's been a busy few weeks for me. Here's the first chapter of the sequel to Uniquely Felucian that I promised. I should point out that the world Cerenas and everything on it I made up so don't go searching canonical sources for it! There will be more non-canon content to come but I can promise some canonical characters/villains so fear not! Anyways, hope you enjoy this one. More soon. :)


	2. Searchlights

Aayla's eyes snapped open. Instantly she knew she wasn't alone in her room. It was still nighttime, the surroundings enveloped in pitch darkness. But she didn't need her eyes to see the intruder. She could feel his presence. He was just meters away, watching her. She didn't reach for the blaster pistol which she was almost certain was no longer there beside her. She stared into the darkness and waited.

"You thought you could run, didn't you, Aayla Secura?" the man said, finally breaking the silence. "You thought you could outmanoeuvre the entire Empire, run away with your friend, find a quiet little world, start over again. Well I'm here to tell you, that's not how the universe works." His voice was low, soft, but his words had a diamond-hard edge to them. Aayla's breath quickened. The force was with her still but she was struggling to control her fear. Her worst nightmares were coming true.

"You're a wanted women, Aayla Secura. You're wanted alive if that's any consolation, alive and unharmed for questioning. But I should certainly like to kill you if I get the chance. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness and Aayla could just make out the broad outlines of the intruder, almost certainly an Imperial agent judging by what he had said. He was sitting in her chair facing her, pointing what was most likely her own blaster pistol directly at her chest.

None of the options looked good, Aayla thought bleakly. She could use the force to try and wrest the blaster from his grasp but if he had help, and Aayla suspected he did, they would almost certainly be alerted by the flash if she tried to then turn the blaster on him. That was assuming she was quick enough to even make the blaster leave his hand before he had time to pull the trigger. She decided to stall for time. "The Empire wants me alive?"

"Alive and well" he sniffed. "I'm to take you back to base. And if you've got any sense, you'll come quietly." He rose abruptly. "Enough of this. Lets get going. Hands above your head and no sudden movements or you know what will happen."

Trembling, Aayla put her hands up and slipped out of the bed, stumbling slightly in the darkness as she did so.

"I said _no. sudden. movements"_ he hissed angrily.

Aayla didn't reply. She couldn't. She felt sick, her heart was hammering in her chest, she was drenched in a cold sweat. This man was going to take her to goodness knows where to be tortured and then presumably killed. She didn't believe the Empire would let her live for long. And that was if this Imperial agent didn't snap and kill her here and now. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, moving steadily, in a rhythm. The more predictable her movements, the better she decided.

Soon she reached the front door, noticing immediately that it was open ajar. The Imperial agent was following close behind, staying back by about half a meter. Aayla imagined the blaster pistol pointed at the small of her back.

"Push the door open" he breathed. "Nice 'n easy."

She did so and stepped across the threshold into the night. The air was freezing cold and the mist so thick it felt like rain. Already, her thin nightclothes were becoming waterlogged. Aayla shivered violently and the Imperial agent must have noticed for he jabbed the barrel of the blaster in her back. "You do that one more time ..."

But he never got to complete his sentence. A single red blaster bolt streaked past Aayla, passing so close to her face that she could feel its heat, and hit the Imperial agent. He dropped to the ground behind her, killed instantly by the shooter who was now emerging from the bushes ahead. Aayla could sense him now and wondered why she hadn't been able to sense him earlier. She ran to meet him.

"Oh Bly!" she whispered, holding him in a tight embrace. They kissed. "I thought that was the end of me! How did you know?"

"Good timing, that's all. I got off shift early tonight and they were entering the house just as I arrived."

"They?"

Bly nodded towards the house. Aayla turned and it was only then that she saw the second body, sprawled under the bedroom window.

"I was just about to go in there myself when I saw you."

They embraced again and Aayla put her hand to Bly's face. "We have to leave Bly" she said urgently. "We have to leave now."

Bly put his hand to hers. Then he frowned suddenly, peering over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Aayla asked.

Bly walked over to the corpse of the Imperial agent, stooped, and picked up the dead man's comlink. He waved her towards him. "Listen to this."

She hurried over. "… repeat, this is Commander LaPlatt of the CDF. Do you copy? … You've not checked in, we're sending backup. Standby ..."

Aayla was shocked to her core. She'd always thought LaPlatt was a good man. They'd never been friends as such but he was always pleasant, amiable. And now here he was, working hand in glove with the Empire, seemingly coordinating their attempts to capture and kill her. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. Why would the Cerenas authorities be working so closely with the Empire? More to the point, when did the Empire even establish a presence in this region of space? And most naggingly of all, why did the Empire want her alive? She glanced back at the comlink but it had gone dead.

Bly pocketed it, then he looked at her, his face twisted with worry. "We'd better get our things. We've got minutes at most before they get here."

Aayla nodded. Already, she thought she could hear the whine of repulsorlift bikes in the distance. She picked up her blaster pistol that the Imperial agent had dropped and then they ran together back into the house. Aayla changed out of her nightclothes and into fatigues at top speed, Bly was throwing together a kit bag of supplies. Then before she knew it, they were back outside again. Aayla took one last look at what had been their home for almost four years. Then she closed the front door behind them.

"Lets follow the brook" Aayla pointed. "If we walk in it, we won't leave footprints and it runs quite close to our shuttle."

They hurried into the undergrowth, struggling to cut a path through the thorns and branches. Aayla wished she still had her lightsaber. She'd lost it five years ago on Coruscant when she'd been captured by the Empire and taken to the palace. She could have constructed a new one in the years since but had held off from doing so, in part because it would be a constant reminder of the life and the world she had lost to the Empire. But on occasions like this …

The whine from the speeder bikes had stopped and Aayla knew they must have reached the house. She looked behind her. Faint yellow lights were shining through the leaves and the mist, sweeping from left to right periodically. Searchlights. She could hear the CDF officers speaking very faintly but couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Get down!" she hissed. "Keep low." They inched forwards, crouching. Aayla kept her right hand on the butt of her blaster, ready to draw in a split second. Ahead of her, Bly stopped.

He looked back at her. "This is it" he whispered. Aayla drew level with Bly and looked down. The water only came up to your ankles Aayla knew, she and Bly had spent many a summer day here, but it looked much deeper at night when the water was an inky black and you couldn't see the bottom. Even the sound of the trickling water took on a menacing quality in the darkness.

She eased down the bank into the brook and it was all she could do to stop herself gasping as her feet entered the icy cold water. Bly moaned softly and Aayla look around. The beam of a searchlight was now clearly visible, even through the mist, and it was getting brighter by the second. Wordlessly, Bly pointed towards an overhang on the near side of the brook, adorned by a clump of ferns and they made towards it. Every fibre in her body was screaming at her to run for cover but she knew she couldn't risk making any splashes. That would surely attract the attention of the CDF.

Finally, they reached the overhang and settled into the space. Aayla could feel loose, wet soil clinging to the back of her head and neck and water dripped periodically from a fern frond onto her face but she forced herself to keep still. She had drawn her blaster, holding it at the hip. No need for accuracy when the enemy was so close. Then she stiffened. The unmistakable squelching sound of a boot stepping in wet leaves…

The CDF officer was directly above them, so close she could hear him breathing. His comlink chimed but he didn't seem to answer it. He was slowly moving his searchlight across the far side of the brook, the beam of light illuminating every inch of the bank. Then the searchlight swooped across the water, coming towards them. Aayla drew her lips back into a silent scream. The light passed so close it practically grazed her leg. She drew them in even tighter to her body, so tight she almost couldn't breath. The light passed over them once, twice, and for a third time before it disappeared altogether. Aayla heard the footsteps of the CDF officer moving away from them. He had turned around, he was leaving and Aayla let out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding.

Bly grinned and squeezed her hand. But they stayed put for several more minutes, just in case the CDF officers decided to return for a second look. But none came. They got up slowly, painfully. The cramped conditions, the damp and the cold had caused their joints to seize up. In silence, they continued following the brook until they reached the point where it passed the hiding place for their shuttle.

Aayla motioned, Bly followed and they climbed up the bank and back onto dry land. There was no trail, Aayla and Bly had deliberately avoided creating any sort of paths to or from the hiding place but instinct told her where to go. At fifty meters, she could start to see the dark outline of the Imperial shuttle through the trees. Then she stopped dead. CDF officers. A whole party of them. Aayla crouched and motioned for Bly to do the same. It was difficult to see what they were up to. They were carrying heavy boxes of some sort, placing them next to the shuttle and unpacking them. A superior was pointing and waving, barking out commands at his subordinates and suddenly Aayla saw what was going to happen before it did.

She turned to Bly, her eyes wide. "Bly! Run!" she whispered hoarsely. They had almost made it back to the brook when it happened. The sky lit up with fire and the ground beneath them rocked, throwing them off their feet and into the freezing water. The shockwave of the explosion shattered trees and hurled rocks and pieces scolding metal towards them. Using the force, Aayla created a protective bubble surrounding herself and Bly. It wouldn't stop boulders but it would protect them from small rocks and pieces of shrapnel. After what seemed like an eternity, the assault subsided and calm returned to the forests of Cerenas. For a long moment they just looked at each other and Aayla felt a powerful surge of despair. The CDF had just blown up their only way off this planet. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

– Notes:

Sorry again for the delay. I didn't mean for this to take ten months! I hope you enjoy it anyhow, I very much enjoyed writing this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon but I'm not going to make any more promises I can't keep regarding timing. Until next time.


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